Environment

Most Cities Receive More Rainfall Than Surrounding Rural Areas, Global Study Shows

Tue, 10 Sep 2024 11:57:05 -0500

In a new study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin found that more than 60% of cities in a survey of 1,056 regions around the world receive more precipitation than their surrounding rural areas.

Guihua Yu Wins Falling Walls Engineering and Technology Award

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 13:26:32 -0500

Texas Engineer Guihua Yu has been honored for his work to generate clean, drinkable water using solar energy.

How Plasmas Could Help Reduce Methane Emissions

Thu, 25 Jul 2024 14:25:24 -0500

Texas Engineers have developed the most efficient method yet to convert methane to methanol over the distributed scales where it is produced.

Smart Soil Can Water and Feed Itself

Tue, 16 Jul 2024 09:29:16 -0500

A newly engineered type of soil can capture water out of thin air to keep plants hydrated and manage controlled release of fertilizer for a constant supply of nutrients.

New Carbon Storage Technology Is Fastest of Its Kind

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 15:03:20 -0500

A new way to store carbon captured from the atmosphere developed by researchers from The University of Texas at Austin works much faster than current methods without the harmful chemical accelerants they require.

How Lasers and 2D Materials Could Solve the World's Plastic Problem

Tue, 02 Jul 2024 09:46:26 -0500

A global research team led by Texas Engineers has developed a way to blast the molecules in plastics and other materials with a laser to break them down into their smallest parts for future reuse.

How Potatoes, Corn and Beans Led to Smart Windows Breakthrough

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 14:08:02 -0500

A study from researchers at The University of Texas at Austin aims to reduce the costs of smart windows by creating a new type of electrochromic device and materials.

Texas Engineers Use Erwin Center as Blueprint for Sustainable Demolition

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 15:33:06 -0500

The Frank Erwin Center is coming down to make way for a new UT Austin-MD Anderson Cancer Center joint medical campus, but even in its demise, the former home of Longhorn basketball and many memorable moments in Austin's musical history is serving an important purpose.

How AI Can Bolster Power Grid's Resistance to Weather, Cyberattacks

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 15:26:10 -0600

Texas Engineer Javad Mohammadi has dedicated his research to strengthening power grids, using artificial intelligence to make them more resistant to evolving threats.

Simulating How Big Waves Impact Shorelines

Tue, 13 Feb 2024 15:26:16 -0600

The crash of waves on the beach to many is the picture of peace and relaxation, but it’s also an important moment in the surrounding landscape. Known as the swash zone, where waves run up the face of the beach, this area is where crucial sand movement occurs, shaping the world’s coastlines over time and impacting flooding and other weather events.

Injectable Water Filtration System Could Improve Access to Clean Drinking Water Around the World

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 14:32:11 -0600

More than 2 billion people, approximately a quarter of the world’s population, lack access to clean drinking water. A new, portable and affordable water filtration solution created by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin aims to change that.

AI-Powered Civil Engineering: New NSF-backed Community Aims to Transform U.S. Infrastructure

Wed, 29 Nov 2023 14:58:20 -0600

Texas Engineers are creating a new community to unite civil engineers, cyberinfrastructure professionals and experts in artificial intelligence to better understand and protect our virtual and physical infrastructure.

Measuring Underwater Carbon Capture With Sound

Mon, 06 Nov 2023 16:02:29 -0600

Texas Engineers will lead a new project on marine carbon dioxide removal, capture and storage as part of a larger research push from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Curtailing Unhealthy Impacts of Steel Production: DOE Earthshot Program

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 10:36:38 -0500

Steel is one of the world’s most useful and valuable materials, but its production is among the most carbon-intensive manufacturing processes. Steel accounts for roughly 7% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions, part of a broader industrial sector that accounted for about 30% of the greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. in 2021, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Pottery Becomes Water Treatment Device for Navajo Nation

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 11:48:54 -0500

Large chunks of the Navajo Nation in the Southwest lack access to clean drinkable water, a trend that has been rising in many parts of the U.S. in recent years. A research team led by engineers with The University of Texas at Austin aims to change that.

Hot Summer Air Turns into Drinking Water With New Gel Device

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 14:00:32 -0500

For significant portions of the globe faced with water shortage problems a beacon of hope may be on the way: the ability to easily turn hot air into drinking water.

Breakthrough Oil-Capturing Technology Offers 10x Improvement Cleaning Up Hazardous Spills

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 21:20:35 -0500

To combat the extreme environmental toll of major oil spills, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin have created a new technology that could significantly improve cleanup capabilities compared to today's methods.

Poor Air Quality Deforms Our Cells; What Does It Mean for Their Health?

Tue, 29 Aug 2023 08:15:17 -0500

It's a well-known fact that air quality can impact our health. It's something that can be seen all the way down to the cellular level, as different pollutants in the air can influence biophysical cell characteristics.

Texas researchers are diving deep into this phenomenon, aiming to answer the question of how different types of respiratory cells handle the stress of toxic pollutants. More specifically, they're investigating cell shape, how it may serve as a distress signal of toxic air pollution and the impact of different mixtures of pollutants.

Water-Purifying Cup Makes Drinkable Water From Creeks and Streams

Tue, 01 Aug 2023 15:50:16 -0500

A rash of storms in Texas in recent years — from Hurricane Harvey in 2017 to the deep freeze in 2021 — has put big chunks of the population in danger and left millions without electricity or water for long periods.

These calamities also served as motivation for a researcher at The University of Texas at Austin to refocus her work on innovations that can help communities respond to severe weather events. Her latest project is a mug-sized device that can quickly clean water using a small jolt of electricity to fish out bacterial cells. In lab experiments, the device was able to remove 99.997% of E. coli bacteria from 2- to 3-ounce samples taken from Waller Creek in Austin in approximately 20 minutes, with the capacity to do more.

Smart Farming Platform Improves Crop Yields, Minimizes Pollution

Tue, 20 Jun 2023 16:06:15 -0500

A new farming system developed by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin aims to solve one of the biggest problems in modern agriculture: the overuse of fertilizers to improve crop yields and the resulting chemical runoff that pollutes the world’s air and water.